BELARUS: 'Please save my son from the death penalty'

Summary: Kanavalau was convicted in organising the terrorist attacks in 2005 in Vitebsk, in 2008 in Minsk, and in the subway of Minsk in April 2011. My son Uladzislau was convicted of aiding.

On November 30th the Supreme Court of Belarus sentenced my son Uladzislau Kavalyou (Vladislav Kovalev) and another young man Dzmitry Kanavalau (Dmitry Konovalov) to death.

Kanavalau was convicted in organising the terrorist attacks in 2005 in Vitebsk, in 2008 in Minsk, and in the subway of Minsk in April 2011. My son Uladzislau was convicted of aiding.

The accusations are based on the statements made by these two young men, which, as many believe, were given under physical and emotional pressure. None of what has been said in court is supported by any evidence. My son insists he was not been involved in the terrorist attack and suggested Dzmitry Kanavalau was not involved in it either.

I believe that my son is innocent. So do victims of the attack and many international human rights organisations:

- The victims of the attack have a number of questions regarding the impartiality and transparency of the trial and access to the case materials. Aliaksandr Kruty, a representative of one of the injured from the April attack Inesa Krutaya, made a motion to abolish the death penalty and asked the court to defer consideration of the case. A few days later, on September 20th, he was arrested and sent to a hospital for the mentally ill allegedly for hooliganism. None of their motions were considered by the court.

- The defendants claimed that they were exposed to torture during the investigation to extract confessions.

- During the trial, independent journalists were banned from communicating with victims. The official media already refer to Kavalyou and Kanavalau as terrorists without awaiting the decision of the court.

With this petition, I am turning to you asking one single thing: I am asking you not to kill my son Uladzislau Kavalyou and Dzmitry Kanavalau, but instead to find those who are actually responsible for these terrorist crimes.

At the moment Belarus is the only country in Europe, which continues to carry out death sentences. And while these two men being murdered, those who are responsible for the attacks are walking freely.

Please note that these reports are hosted by CRIN as a resource for Child Rights campaigners, researchers and other interested parties. Unless otherwise stated, they are not the work of CRIN and their inclusion in our database does not necessarily signify endorsement or agreement with their content by CRIN.